Chapter 363 - Chapter 363: Chapter 363. Lost a Money Bag
Chapter 363: Chapter 363. Lost a Money Bag
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Let’s go home and see what’s missing.”
Xiaoying repeated what Su Qing had just said. Qiu Yongkang admired Su Qing’s intelligence,
“Su Qing is right. It might be killing for money.”
You go; we stay here.”
“Thank you.”
Su Qing glanced at Qiu Yongkang and thanked him. He had thought of everything so that they wouldn’t be in a hurry to prepare for their Godmother’s funeral.
Qiu Yongkang did not expect Su Qing to thank him. He was stunned for a moment before shaking his head.
“Thank you for what? It’s what I should do.”
Su Qing glanced at him and didn’t say anything else. She took Xiaoying and hurried to the Godmother’s house.
When they entered the courtyard and saw the dark and empty house, Xiaoying cried. In the past, no matter how late they came home, they would always see the light that their Godmother had left for them. Now, no one would leave the light on for them anymore, and no one would wake up in the middle of the night to cover her with a blanket.
Su Qing was also very sad. She loved visiting her Godmother’s house and watching her sew clothes under the light. It was a very heartwarming scene. Her heart would still feel warm if she didn’t say a word.
Now, with the cold pot, stove, and room, no one asked them gently if they were hungry anymore. ‘Are you cold?’
Su Qing took a deep breath and held back her tears. Now was not the time to cry. She had to avenge her Godmother.
“Xiaoying, is there money missing?”
Su Qing lit the oil lamp and held it up for Xiaoying to check.
Xiaoying was holding onto the unfinished needlework and crying. It was a big red undergarment that Godmother had embroidered for her.
“Don’t cry.”
Su Qing scolded coldly. She had never used such a harsh tone on Xiaoying before. Xiaoying was so frightened that she stopped crying.
“See what’s missing?”
Su Qing got on the bed and opened both cabinets for Xiaoying to check.
Xiaoying went over and took out everything in the cabinet to check. Was there anything missing?
“No, there isn’t.”
Su Qing flipped through the things that Xiaoying took out and only saw a small amount of silver and copper coins. Zhong Yong had been earning much money recently, so it should not be just this little money.
“Only this much money?”
Su Qing asked Xiaoying,”
“Godmother hid the money in the jar.”
She climbed down to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. When Godmother was hiding the money, she asked Godmother why she had to hide the money there.
The Godmother said the thief would rummage through the cabinets and not think the money was hidden there.
Xiaoying found the jar where her Godmother hid the money, and when she looked around, she discovered that the money bag where her Godmother hid the money was missing.
“Godmother’s money pouch is missing.”
Xiaoying raised her head and told Su Qing.
“Do you remember what kind of money bag it was?”
Su Qing clenched her fist in hate. As expected, she was harmed because of money.
” 1 remember. There are pear blossoms embroidered on the Godmother’s purse. It’s lovely.”
Xiaoying nodded vigorously. She remembered that she liked the money bag very much when she saw it. Her Godmother said that she would embroider a new one for her.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Su Qing took Xiaoying to look for Cheng Yu. The search was a big project, and there were not enough people. They were even more afraid of alerting the thief and making him destroy the evidence.
When Cheng Yu heard that Su Qing wanted to search all the refugees in the city, he immediately sent two teams of people for Su Qing to dispatch at will.
Su Qing sent someone to call Ji and Qiu Yongkang over. They were familiar with where the refugees lived in the city.
“Yongkang, have you registered the refugees who entered the city during this period?”
Su Qing didn’t search blindly. She asked Qiu Yongkang for the name list first.
“Yes. Back then, it was to prevent spies from sneaking into Mo City. We registered all the refugees who entered Mo City. The name list is in Xing Ruhai’s hands.”
Qiu Yongkang didn’t know why Su Qing asked about the name list. But he still answered truthfully.
“I’ll go and get the name list.”
Ji Shuisheng immediately went to look for Xing Ruhai to get the name list. The torches outside the government office were bright, and everyone was silent. Su Qing stood at the front with a cold face. The wind blew her hair, and her eyes under her hair were cold and heavy, like a bottomless ancient well. A strong murderous aura around her forced people not to approach.
Qiu Yongkang couldn’t help but ask Su Qing,
“What are they doing?”
“Searching.”
Su Qing replied coldly. As usual, the underlings were stingy with their words and did not explain further.
Qiu Yongkang was a little uneasy. Would such a big conflict cause Mo City to fall into a panic? He carefully said to Su Qing,
“Wouldn’t such a large-scale search cause panic?”
“Three people were lulled in two days.”
Su Qing looked at Qiu Yongkang and questioned him. Her Godmother was already dead; why should she care about the panic?
“That’s true.”
Qiu Yongkang wasn’t angry after being scolded by Su Qing. He knew that Su Qing wasn’t in a good mood, so he nodded and retreated without saying anything else.
“Su Qing, I have the name list.”
Soon, Ji Shuisheng received the list of refugees from Xing Ruhai. Xing Ruhai followed behind Ji Shuisheng. He looked very tired as well, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Xing Ruhai and Qiu Yongkang hadn’t rested well for the past two days. They had a meeting tonight and only went to bed late at night. They had just laid down and hadn’t fallen asleep when Ji Shuisheng woke them up. He also came over when he heard that they would search the city.
“Let’s split into four teams. I’ll take one team to the east, Shuisheng to the west, Lord Xing to the south, Yongkang to search the north and find a purse embroidered with white pear blossoms.”
Su Qing looked at the register and found that the household register made by Lord Xing was very detailed. Even the place where they stayed was recorded. There were four of them. If they brought people to search simultaneously, they would not leak the news and let the murderer hide the things.
“Alright.”
Ji Shuisheng was the first to agree and ordered ten people to follow him to West City. Lord Xing had no objections and immediately led his men to the South City. When Qiu Yongkang saw they had left, he called ten soldiers to the North City.
Su Qing brought the remaining soldiers to the city’s east side and searched every house according to the records on the register. The refugees were frightened when they were suddenly searched in the middle of the night. They hugged each other and trembled.
The Xiao Family Army loved their people like their own children. Although they didn’t damage the victims’ belongings, they didn’t allow them to shout to avoid alerting others.
Su Qing led the men to search all the refugees in the East District. They searched from late at night until dawn, but they found nothing.
Su Qing returned her men to the government office to await news from the other three teams. She had not slept the entire night, and her eyes were red. She stood in the howling north wind, and the morning frost had dyed her hair white. She pursed her lips tightly and gave off a low pressure, making it seem as if no one was allowed to come near.
Soon, Xing Ruhai returned with his team. Su Qing looked at him with hope, but Xing Ruhai shook his head tiredly.
“No, I didn’t.”
Su Qing retracted her gaze in disappointment. She clenched her fists tightly behind her, hoping Shuisheng would bring back good news.
Not long after, Qiu Yongkang returned with his men. He had not rested well for two consecutive nights and was so tired that he could not walk properly. His eyes were dull. It was the first time the gentle young master was so unkempt.
When Su Qing saw Qiu Yongkang return, her hands tightened behind her back, and she asked in a low voice,
“Found?”